


Stupid

by SpraceJunkie



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Jack has Dyslexia and so does Davey if that wasn't clear, honestly it might not be bc it's 1899 and diagnosing kids with dyslexia was not a thing back then, like i wrote it as platonic but i suppose you could make it Javid if you wanted to, platonic unless you want it to not be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpraceJunkie/pseuds/SpraceJunkie
Summary: Jack Kelly is stupid, he knows he is, until he learns that maybe he isn't.





	Stupid

Jack Kelly is stupid.

He knows it, because when he looks at words, they don’t look like words, they look like squiggles and dashes and pieces of letters, but not words.

He knows it because in his head, his words make sense, but when he opens his mouth they don’t, they rearrange themselves and slip out in the wrong order, and when people look at him confused he doesn’t know what he said wrong until somebody tells him.

Jack Kelly is stupid.

He knows it because his pictures can tell a thousand words but his words can’t even tell one story, because when he tries his hardest it doesn’t work but somehow when he gives up people know, he can always communicate defeat but never success.

He knows it because he can read faces and tones and he can hear words but he can’t see them and he can’t say them, because he’s always thirty seconds behind everyone else when they’re reading the headlines.

Jack Kelly is stupid.

He knows because that’s what the boys who tried to teach him used to whisper when he was younger and spent weeks just trying to learn one word, five letters, a single sound, because why would people say it if it weren’t true?

He knows it because that’s the only reason he wouldn’t be able to read and talk just like everyone else, when those are normal things, maybe some boys can’t read, but they were never taught, and he’s been trying to learn for years.

Jack Kelly is stupid.

He knows it, but he hides it, instead of reading headlines he waits for the other’s to say them and cracks a joke, instead of reading the little headlines he picks a word and makes up his own.

He knows it, but he works around it, when he finds a new picture book he spends weeks piecing it together on the roof and weeks memorizing it so he can pretend to read it out loud without stumbling over his words quite as much.

Jack Kelly is stupid.

He knows it until one day a boy shows up who doesn’t talk, who reads the headlines slowly, who stumbles when he talks too fast and messes up the words he reads, but who is the smartest boy Jack has ever met.

He knows it until Davey shows him how to figure words out letter by letter, how to ignore the floating letters that he sees too, how to circle back and explain himself when his sentences get confused, until Davey tells him how he can’t be stupid in the way he thinks he is if he can memorize and if he can lead and if he can be brave and strong and cunning, all of those things are different kinds of smart.

Jack Kelly is stupid, he knows because he must be, but if Davey can be smart and have the same trouble Jack does, and if Davey can have a hard time reading and have a hard time getting the words in his head out of his mouth and still be smart, then maybe Jack Kelly isn’t so stupid after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Uhhh Jack has dyslexia folks it's canon now.
> 
> As always, kudos are appreciated and comments are adored and grant you my forever love if that's something you want.


End file.
